Armagh won’t get any sympathy at Healy Park
Over a decade ago, these fiercest of Ulster rivals played out their domestic disputes on a national stage as the rest of the country looked on with fascination and disgust.
The gripping All-Ireland semi-final in 2005 which followed two memorable Ulster finals in Croke Park, three games far superior in quality to their 2003 All-Ireland final meeting, was the summer the rivalry reached its zenith. Between 1999 and 2010 no other county got a look-in when it came to the Ulster championship, but the pair’s iron grip on the Anglo Celt loosened after Tyrone’s 2010 victory.
As the steady flow of titles dried up, intensity ebbed out of the fixtures also, yet there’s still enough meat on the bone in this enduring rivalry to ensure there’s plenty of interest in tonight’s latest renewal.
Kieran McGeeney takes Armagh to Healy Park, Omagh in desperate need of points to escape instant relegation back to Division Three. They’ll be facing a side already guaranteed instant promotion back to Division One, but McGeeney has soldiered through too many wars with Tyrone to expect anything other than the Red Hands keeping their collective foot pressed hard on Armagh’s throat.
“Maybe they’ll go easy on us,” his sarcastic response to the prospect of Tyrone dropping their guard. Although Armagh pulled had three-point win in Omagh in the All-Ireland qualifiers two years ago, the Red Hands have generally been top dogs.
A qualifier win for Tyrone in 2011 and a very tame Ulster championship first round win in the Athletic Grounds the following year, were definite signs the northern rivals were still headed in different directions.
However Armagh’s qualifier win in Omagh 2014 – coming six months after they were hammered by 24 points on the same pitch in the McKenna Cup - showed the wheel was perhaps turning again, especially when the Orchard county went on to contest a high quality All-Ireland quarter-final against Donegal.
But Tyrone edged a McKenna Cup tie last year, whereArmagh finished with 12 men, on route to the All-Ireland semi-finals. While Armagh are rooted to the bottom of Divison Two, they produced arguably the best performance of McGeeney’s reign last time out against Galway and were unlucky to concede an equalising goal in the seventh minute of injury time.
It was a good response to the 17-point hammering they suffered against Cavan the previous week, but McGeeney was careful not to read too much into it: “That (Galway performance) is not going to erase what happened (against Cavan).
The consistently excellent performances of Stefan Campbell, who kicked 1-9 against Galway, have been the success story of their spring but McGeeney has long championed the talent in his dressing-room.
“We shouldn’t be sitting where we are with the potential that we have,” he claimed.
“I’ve said before that I think we have great players. It’s about getting the right mixture and the right training behind them, and then bringing the right attitude to it.
“There’s two hard battles in front of us but I reiterate, we need those. We need those to climb up the ladder.” Knowing an easy run through Division Three last year was a disadvantage come championship time, McGeeney doesn’t want a return.
Armagh’s fate probably won’t be decided until the last day (against Derry) as relegation rivals Meath, Fermanagh and Laois also face difficult away games this weekend. If they lose on enemy ground tonight, that may be some consolation.
